Confession
by fancypandas
Summary: Just a oneshot. Maybe a little OOC, I dunno. T just to be safe. I'm horrible at coming up with titles and summaries XP


**Disclaimer: Nothing is mine but the plot**

The streets were quiet except for the soft echoes of footsteps on the stone walkways. Evey kept a slow pace, admiring the houses bathed in moonlight. The streets were often quiet and empty like this. Though V's revolution abolished the ways of the old government, the people were still hesitant of their newly achieved freedoms.

Well, not that new. It had been months since Evey had sent the man she loved, covered in his beloved Scarlet Carsons, speeding down the underground to Parliament. And then a new political regime was formed, one that stripped away all the restrictions that had bound the people to fear. There was no need to be afraid anymore. Yet still they were.

Evey didn't mind, though, at times like this. She rather liked strolling through the deserted streets by herself.

As reaching the end of another deserted street, she stopped when she heard a noise behind her. It had sounded like someone bumping into a rubbish bin. She turned her head to look in the direction the noise had come from. As she did, she saw the remnants of something darting behind the corner of an alleyway. It looked like a black cloth, and just before it something white. She thought it was somebody's face, but it had been too white. Unnaturally white. Almost like...

A mask.

Evey ran over to the alley opening and stared into it. It was a dead-end.

"Hello?" she called out. No one answered, nothing stirred. She stood there for a few moments, contemplating an idea that had popped into her head. Coming to the conclusion that it would do no harm, she turned and headed in the direction of V's old hideout.

* * *

Evey found the entrance just as easily as she had so many times before. Looking around gave her a feeling of nostalgia that was both melancholy and pleasant. V's collection of movies and books, the jukebox, the kitchen, so many fond memories. But, there was something off about the place. It was clean; it didn't look as if it hadn't been lived in for months. And to further prove that point, someone emerged from a side room. Evey's heart sped up as she gazed at the man she loved and thought she lost. V saw her and froze.

"V?" she uttered. Her legs began to shake, but not from fear. She had trained herself to feel again though fear was something that would not come to her. So now she shook from confusion, anger, hurt.

"Evey," he said.

"But you, I…I saw you, you died in my arms. I put you on the train, dead," she spluttered. He clenched and unclenched his fists.

"Please, you must understand," he started.

"What? That you've been alive this whole time?"

"It was for your own good, Evey. I wanted to give you a chance at a better life." He turned his face away. "I had already caused you too much pain. I didn't want you to suffer more."

"But I love you!" she insisted. He turned to look back at her, shaking his head.

"I am not deserving of what you offer."

"Yes you are! After all you've done for this country don't you think you're entitled to at least a little happiness?" She swallowed hard. "Don't I deserve some happiness?"

He turned away again. "You would not find happiness in me," he whispered bitterly. Anger flooded Evey's mind and she stepped forward to stand in front of him.

"How dare you," she said through her teeth. "Any thought of you, any time I heard your voice or saw you, any time I was merely _with_ you brought me the greatest happiness I've ever felt in my life. I go out everyday and feel almost nothing but try to convince myself that even the slightest emotion that I feel is happiness. But it's not, I know it's not." Evey's face softened. She looked down and sighed. When she brought her face back up it once again was in its usual stoic expression, though her eyes had a bit more of a pleading quality to them.

"Look, I don't care what you think. I love you and my feelings will never change."

"Please, Evey," the tone of his voice was heartbreaking. "I can't."

"V, twice you've lied to me on a great scale. No more lies. I want you to tell me something: tell me that you don't love me. Say it and I'll be gone from your life for good. I won't come looking for you, I won't pry; I won't do anything. I'll forget you and move on with my life." In actuality, she knew she would never forget him. She _could_ never forget him.

"Evey," he paused when she raised her eyes to meet his through the mask. He could tell she was trying to steel herself but wasn't quite managing it all the way. "You are right; I have lied to you far too much and I cannot continue any longer. But," he hesitated. Evey's eyes dropped; she could tell what was coming.

"I cannot tell you that I do not love you." Her head snapped back up, this time with fire in her eyes. She opened her mouth to say something but V pressed a finger to her lips to prevent her.

"I cannot tell you that I do not love you because that would be another lie to add to my repertoire."

"V, what–" but he would not let her speak, not yet anyway. He wanted to let out what he'd been keeping in since the moment he met her.

"I love you Evey Hammond. But simply telling you that I love you with all my heart would be much too cliché, and saying that I love you more than life itself would not mean much coming from me. But I do love you more than I love _The Count of Monte Cristo_, and more than I love my revolution; more than I love Scarlet Carsons and more than I love Valerie." He paused and turned away from Evey. "I love you, I love you more than I love this mask," his voice broke as he delicately removed the mask and tossed it aside.

Evey's eyes grew wide in shock as he did this. V slid the wig off of his head and let it fall to the ground at his feet. Slowly he turned to face Evey straight on. He was almost afraid that she would leave him then just from the sight of his mutilated face. But she did not. She seemed to not notice the burnt flesh at all. She merely gazed lovingly into his eyes. He quickly closed the distance between them, placing his hands on her shoulders

"I love you." He planted a kiss on her forehead.

"I love you." Another on her cheek.

"I love you." And a third on the other cheek.

He removed his hands from her shoulders and placed them on either side of her face, leaning in so that their foreheads touched.

"I love you," he whispered and kissed her softly on the lips.


End file.
